Padres bloggin' since 2007

Ken Rosenthal says the A’s aren’t going to flip Hairston. I’m not so sure. They could trade him soon, when his value’s at its highest. Or they could trade him a year from now, when he’s got a .298 on-base percentage and suddenly their young outfielders are looking pretty good by comparison. But I don’t see Hairston in the lineup when the A’s get back into the playoffs.

I agree. Again, did the Padres get the best value for him? We’ll find out in a few weeks.

I wouldn’t be surprised at all if that PTBNL is Sean Gallagher. And if it is, then I still think it’s a good trade. Gallagher had a lot of potential, but the A’s are chock full of young arms with a lot of potential. They need to get a right-handed stick that is under salary control for a while who can provide good defense. This finally plugs that hole and the A’s clearly didn’t have a lot of faith in Gallagher. We’ll see though. It also wouldn’t surprise me to see it be someone like Henry Rodriguez. But we’ll just have to wait to find out.

Blez also makes a lot of sense to me. The Padres have outfielders, the A’s have pitchers. Bing bang boom.

Italiano, with his strikeout and walk numbers both high, appears to be on a track to be a relief pitcher. Webb, based on his minor league track record, appears to be a back-end of the rotation starter. While these can be valuable pieces, it seems unlikely to me that they can equal the kind of production that Hairston is likely to put up in his next two cost-controlled years.

619 Sports has an interview with Grady Fuson on Webb and Italiano. Not much new info. Webb is 6’6”, and came into his own after a move to the bullpen this year.

Italiano is a hard thrower, though raw, with a “rough delivery” out of high school, and still “something that’s been a work in progress.” “He’s been cleaned up,” but they’ll use him more out of the bullpen.

6/8 Update: Baseball America too. Why the hell not?

A’s GM Billy Beane has to be pleased with this deal. In exchange for two (probably three) second-tier minor league arms, Oakland acquired a solid everyday player, albeit an arbitration-eligible one, who is set to earn $1.25 million this season.